Greetings Disciples of Jesus!
More than just a long weekend marking the end of summer, Labor Day is a day to recognize workers. It’s not a church holiday but it ends up pairing very well with our scripture readings from Luke 14 and Hebrews 13 this week.
Jesus teaches the guests of a leader of the Pharisees the etiquette of where to sit at the banquet table and in Hebrews we hear about service that pleases God. These scriptures invite us to reflect on the kinds of work we dismiss today as lower-status, lower-value, or invisible. We are invited to think about status, about social media followers and what captures our attention enough to make us think about where we are in the pecking order and what our behavior should be.
Jesus advises humility, as does our reading from Proverbs 25:6-7. Hebrews 13 reminds us to “remember those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” (v.7).
So consider the news that does not make the headlines. Consider a story about humility. Listen to the podcast produced by The Christian Century, In Search of entitled: Love and Desolation: The story of Matushka Olga Michael with Meagan Saliashvili (S3E7, Mar 27, 2024). “Blessed Olga said, ‘God can create great beauty out of complete desolation’”. Salisahvili tells the story of the recently glorified Orthodox saint Matushaka Olga Michael, an indigenous healer in Alaska who was known for her humility and ability to heal victims of sexual abuse. She is a big deal in the orthodox churches in Alaska. She is from the Yup’ik tribe. She was quiet and worked behind the scenes and rose up to sainthood in the orthodox church because their path to sainthood recognition grows out of the community and who they venerate. She is a mother who bore 13 children, 8 lived. She was known to sit in community sauna and listen to women tell their stories and share their bruised bodies with each other and there was healing. It’s a beautiful story to consider her way of life and imitate her faith.
Who have you found in your life that is humble? Who helps you to hear the word of God and how they live. You might want to consider remembering them this Labor Day Weekend. Or find someone like I did that helped me see humility enfleshed like Hebrews suggests.
Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,
Pastor Connie Spitzack
